There was more pre-draft coverage
of this 2014 Draft than all the bad stuff Congress has done since 2008. Midst the din at the NY Radio City Music Hall,
the stage was bedecked with an array of large-than-life (literally) young men,
fresh out of college, now wearing diamond earrings & wristwatches the size
ofFrisbees, and mega-size dress suits. These unpaid servants of wealthy universities,
often going to bed hungry, (really?), are lined up for live TV, hoping to
become rich, over-paid, under-achieving NFL trainees. By dawn, those selected
can buy Mom a new house, buy themselves a fleet of flash cars, and take their
neighborhood to dinner with champagne. Make
no mistake – these newbies are not picked by some local team, but by a mega-biz,
mega-moolah conglomerate – the NFL.The Dallas
Cowboys on Forbes are alone worth $2.3 b-b-b-billion! No place here for dilettantes
and party boys.

There it’s done! History forever
etched. One more No.1 into the annals of the NFL. Numbers 2 thru 255 are now
strictly business.

Wait! No.3 Jacksonville choice is
in. Goodell tells us they have selected -- a QB - Blake Bortles!What’s a Bortles? Not primo Johnny Football? No
again. JF is left cooling his heels -- on camera – sipping a six-pack of water
- and would remain there until selection No.22 by Philadelphia. Don’t feel bad
for Manziel; Philadelphia is out printing up and selling a bizarre mega-bucks worth
of memorabilia already!He hasn’t even
read the play book!

Even though this year’s crop is “possibly
the deepest ever,” there is no Andrew Luck in this herd. Many commentators agreed
the cream rose to the top in 2012 – in the persona of Andrew Luck 2012 No.1
pick to the Indianapolis Colts.His
Stanford pedigree and performance made the memory of mega-star Manning fade
away. We still get to deal for this better-than-average crop in 2014. Could Manziel
go the way of 2012 No.2, RGIII – over-stimulated?

Dire warnings this season – no more
free passes.Not only their size, weight,
records, and intellect matters – now their “off-field” behavior is in question.Bad stuff sends them tumbling if at all, to
the back of the line.No room left under
the rug… Today’s Pro teams don’t want to deal with miscreants and malefactors. Why
the growing concern about bad boys feeling their oats? The escalating off-field
activities of these ‘kids’ now border on criminal/jail time offenses. Their
character follows them.

My formula to address this?Make a video of actual footage of the TV pre-draft
analyst’s serious evaluations of “off-field” activities. They emphatically
demote miscreants as risky prospects. Teams don’t need social bad boys dragging
their tarnished egos into their locker rooms. Send this video to high school
and university coaches to convince their pseudo-phenoms that there is a tragic
price to pay for arrogant, defiant, often criminal behavior.They could lose more than their dream of
‘playing’ in the NFL.

As the 3-day parade of selections
continues on ESPN/NFL/CBS/FOX / et al., these big guys hug everybody in reach,
wipe away tears, walk on stage and hug the Commish as though he alone was
responsible for their success. The transition is complete. A grungy behemoth is
now a swaggering millionaire – a behemoth none the less. No longer going hungry
(really?).It truly is a joy to watch
these young men realize their dream of being called up to the big show.We have witnessed the

The finale – “With the 256th and
final pick in the 2014 NFL Draft, the Houston Texans selected Lonnie Ballentine,”
making Ballentine professional
football's 2014 “Mr. Irrelevant.”As per
tradition, Ballentine will be invited for a week-long Mr. Irrelevant
celebration in Newport Beach, California.

And there you have it.My version of the draft. On to training camp,
weight rooms, dining halls, play books, anxiety & exhaustion beyond belief
-- all for the promised millions of moolah.